{"id":25450,"date":"2021-01-08T08:45:21","date_gmt":"2021-01-08T08:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=25450"},"modified":"2021-01-08T15:06:40","modified_gmt":"2021-01-08T15:06:40","slug":"pac-warns-uk-gov-failures-mean-rural-gigabit-broadband-delays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2021\/01\/pac-warns-uk-gov-failures-mean-rural-gigabit-broadband-delays.html","title":{"rendered":"PAC Warns UK Gov Failures Mean Rural Gigabit Broadband Delays"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new report from the Public Accounts Committee<\/a> (PAC) has identified a “litany<\/em>” of failures in the Government’s (DCMS) \u00a35bn Gigabit Broadband Programme<\/a> (F20), which it warns will result in “business and homes in rural areas<\/em>” being “locked out of gigabit broadband for years to come<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

The report itself<\/a> largely re-states much of what we already know. As most people will recall, the Government’s programme has been through quite a few changes since 2019 (prior to that the goal was FTTP<\/a> for all by 2033). Previously, the plan was to cover the whole of the UK with Fibre-to-the-Premises<\/strong> (FTTP<\/a>) infrastructure by the end of 2025, which was unworkable and so they watered that down to “gigabit capable<\/em>” (i.e. allowing the use of more technologies, such as Virgin Media<\/a>’s existing network).<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/strong> At present gigabit-capable (1Gbps+) broadband networks cover 37.4% of UK premises, which is up from 22.1% just six months ago – thanks to the rollout of FTTP<\/a> and Virgin’s DOCSIS<\/a> 3.1 upgrade. Commercial rollouts alone are widely expected to tackle 70-80% of the country, mostly in urban areas.<\/div>\n

However, achieving the revised “gigabit capable<\/em>” coverage by 2025 was still an incredibly tall order and so, at the tail end of 2020, the Government watered it down yet again to ensure that such networks could reach a “minimum<\/em>” of 85% UK coverage by the end of 2025, before getting “as close to 100% as possible<\/em>” thereafter. But initially they’ve only been able to release \u00a31.2bn<\/strong> of the promised funding for the next 4 years.<\/p>\n

At the same time, it’s important to remember that the gigabit programme itself is focused upon tackling the final 20% of hardest to reach premises (c.5-6 million) – using an outside-in build strategy (i.e. starting in rural areas). The draft strategy<\/a> for all this was only published last month, but it could be another year before the first builds begin and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has already warned that those in the final 1% of premises may be too expensive to serve.<\/p>\n

The PAC’s Report<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Suffice to say that the ever-shifting goal posts, as well as an on-going lack of clarity over delivery time-scales (it\u2019s difficult for them to offer this before contracts have even been awarded), are all aspects that the PAC has picked up on its report.<\/p>\n

Brief Summary of the Key Issues<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

— failure to make meaningful progress to tackle the barriers faced by operators in maximising gigabit connectivity by 2025.<\/p>\n

— failure to demonstrate it has learnt lessons from the superfast programme for the detailed design of the gigabit programme.<\/p>\n

— failure to demonstrate how its centralised procurement model will retain the people, skills and knowledge in local authorities that were critical to success in the superfast programme.<\/p>\n

— failure to give any reassurance that local authorities will get additional funding to retain their expert resources at a time when local government finances are under severe pressure from the pandemic.<\/p>\n

— failure to make any meaningful progress in delivering the policy and legislative changes deemed essential by industry to achieve rapid roll-out.<\/p>\n

— failure \u201cyet again\u201d to prioritise consumers in rural areas.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Committee concluded by saying they’re very concerned the reduced target will still be “challenging<\/em>” and that the hardest to reach premises will be struggling with slow broadband for many years to come. This was always going to be true because it takes an inherently long time to deploy new networks in rural areas – it doesn’t happen at the click of a finger.<\/p>\n

The PAC added that they are also “concerned that those in rural areas may have to pay more<\/em>,” and is not convinced that “if and when rural users finally do get gigabit broadband, they will enjoy the same choice of service provider and the same protections as their urban counterparts<\/em>“. Obviously, more expensive deployments of faster networks in normally unviable (economically) areas can attract a higher price, although so far most of the rural FTTP builds we’ve seen have priced themselves in quite an affordable way to help attract take-up.<\/p>\n

The issue of ISP choice is more complicated. Part of the goal has been to attract alternative networks to help support the build and lessen the reliance on Openreach<\/a> (BT<\/a>), although such networks don’t offer the same choice of service providers (at least.. not yet, but there are some talks to see if a common wholesale platform<\/a> could be established). On the other hand, people covered by an altnet can still choose to go back to the old and slower network if they prefer, so choice will still exist. Better that then no gigabit choice at all.<\/p>\n

Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“With the grim announcement that the country and economy will be locked down for months, the Government\u2019s promises on digital connectivity are more important than ever. But due to a litany of planning and implementation failures at DCMS, those promises are slipping farther and farther out of reach – even worse news for the \u201crural excluded\u201d who face years trying to recover with substandard internet connectivity.<\/p>\n

For the foreseeable future, ever more of our lives is moving online, whether we like it or not. Government cannot allow digital inequality to continue to compound and exacerbate the economic inequality that has been so harshly exposed in the covid-19 pandemic. It needs to be clear about timelines in each area so that businesses and individuals can plan for their digital future.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In fairness, 2020 hasn’t exactly been the smoothest of years for establishing a major new digital infrastructure delivery programme, what with multiple disruptive COVID-19<\/strong> lockdowns (particularly the one in March 2020 when the country was unprepared) and the challenge of trying to pull Boris Johnson<\/strong>‘s (Prime Minister) original, and quite unachievable, rollout goals back toward a semblance of reality.<\/p>\n

Equally we suspect that the Building Digital UK<\/a> team within DCMS will be frustrated by the PAC’s report, not least over claims that they failed to learn lessons from the superfast programme, when in fact the gigabit programme does largely appear – from our perspective – to have been constructed with the weaknesses of the prior superfast programme firmly in mind.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, until the new approach is properly put to the test then we won’t know for sure whether or not the direction they’ve taken is ultimately going to be better or worse. The procurement model, with its many different regional cluster sizes (expect lots of big and small contract awards), is complex. A great deal of admin will be required to correctly run and monitor its effectiveness.<\/p>\n

The report does also briefly touch on the lack of progress with respect to extending the existing business rates<\/strong> holiday on new fibre lines in England, which is due to run out next year, although it noted that the Government “declined to offer any view or reassurance that the matters are being urgently pursued<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

However, the Government said they don’t agree with the report, which they claim contains a “number of inaccuracies<\/em>,” albeit without elaborating too much.<\/p>\n

A Spokesperson for DCMS said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Gigabit capable broadband is being rolled out rapidly \u2013 from one in 10 households in 2019 to one in three households today. We expect that half of all households will have access to gigabit speeds by the end of this year, and the UK is deploying at a faster build rate than comparable countries.<\/p>\n

This is evidence of the progress we have made to support the private sector and reduce barriers to roll out. We will take further rapid steps this year alongside the investment being made as part of our record \u00a35bn UK Gigabit Programme, which will focus on ensuring the hardest to reach 20% of the country is not left behind.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As usual the PAC’s report concludes with a series of recommendations, which we’ve pasted below.<\/p>\n

Six PAC Recommendations<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1. The Department should set out, on receiving business case approval or within 3 months, a clear timeline of what activities it intends to complete and by when to achieve its revised targets including the final dates by which key milestones must be reached in order to meet those targets. It should publish yearly updates on progress thereafter.<\/p>\n

2. The Department should identify which risks and barriers have the greatest potential to add delay and cost to the programme and provide a clear plan for how and when they will be addressed and the impact on time and schedule if they are not addressed.<\/p>\n

3. The Department should set out in its Treasury Minute response to this report, what steps it is taking to support the retention of knowledge, skills and delivery expertise in local authorities so that the change in approach does not cause delays to the future programme.<\/p>\n

4. As the Department finalises its approach to its gigabit programme it should set out how it is incorporating the lessons learned from the superfast programme including:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Setting out clear programme specific objectives for the subsidised part of the future gigabit programme (the \u00a35bn programme)<\/p>\n

\u2022 How it intends to improve its targeting to ensure it covers only those areas in greatest need, particularly areas with a high proportion of premises which are uncommercial for rollout, and that any money that does need to be returned is done so as soon as possible<\/p>\n

5. The Department should set out how it will establish which properties do not yet have superfast broadband, how reliable the data it will use to identify them is, and when they can expect to receive gigabit capable broadband.<\/p>\n

6. In its Treasury Minute response to this report, the Department should set out how it plans to work with Ofcom<\/a>, suppliers and industry bodies to ensure that all consumers will have a choice of service providers and are protected from overcharging, in particular where they become tied to a monopoly supplier.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

UPDATE 9:22am<\/strong><\/p>\n

We’ve had a comment from UK ISP Zen Internet<\/a> and fibre optic builder Cityfibre<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Paul Stobart, CEO of Zen Internet<\/a>, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“There\u2019s clearly a lot of work to be done if the Government is going to reach its already scaled back targets. The increasing importance of connectivity can\u2019t be underestimated. It is vital to unlocking productivity and performance across the country and is the basis for the new post-Covid era of flexible working.\u201d<\/p>\n

The industry is committed to making full fibre a success. But in order to ensure targets are met and that those without sufficient connectivity, particularly in rural areas, have the speed and reliability they need, we need even greater collaboration between Government and the broadband industry, to include the infrastructure players, the carriers and the service providers. Each of these has a role to play in making this once in a generation infrastructure programme a success.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Greg Mesch, CEO of CityFibre<\/a>, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Now more than ever, it is in everyone\u2019s interest to ensure Britain\u2019s consumers and businesses get connected to gigabit speed, ultra-reliable Full Fibre as quickly as possible, regardless of where they live or work.<\/p>\n

The PAC is right that the revised 2025 target is both challenging and vital to meet but we believe that by working closely with Government and Ofcom<\/a> it’s achievable.<\/p>\n

At CityFibre<\/a>, our Full Fibre rollout is on track to reach up to 8m premises, approximately 30% of the UK. In doing so, we are creating up to 10,000 new jobs and helping to establish the competitive infrastructure market so critical to achieving national coverage as quickly as possible.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

UPDATE 10:58am<\/strong><\/p>\n

Openreach<\/a> has given their response.<\/p>\n

Catherine Colloms, MD for Corporate Affairs at Openreach<\/a>, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Nationwide coverage by 2025 was always going to be\u202fan ambitious target, but it\u2019s right to be ambitious given how critical broadband is to the UK, especially during and post the pandemic.<\/p>\n

At Openreach, we\u2019ve consistently championed the need for faster action on rural broadband upgrades, because we don\u2019t want communities left behind and we know it will underpin the UK\u2019s economic, social and environmental recovery.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re already building to more than 40,000 homes every week through our commercial investment programme, and we welcome the launch of the Government\u2019s \u00a35 billion subsidy scheme for rural areas.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re very keen to lean in and do our bit but, as the PAC report notes, there remain barriers preventing the industry from going faster \u2013 like business rates and access to property and land – so it\u2019s vital that these are addressed by Government as a priority.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

UPDATE 3pm<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some more comments.<\/p>\n

Lloyd Felton, CEO of County Broadband, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Lockdown 3 is once again exposing critical problems with our outdated digital infrastructure with businesses struggling to work from home and children unable to access online learning. Broadband has long been our essential fourth utility and reliable connectivity could be viewed as a human right in 2021.<\/p>\n

The path to full-fibre has its challenges and to succeed it requires a Herculean effort with local providers and the government working closely together to consign copper-based networks to the history bin. Whilst we were disappointed the flagship gigabit target was downgraded to 85% of UK homes by 2025, we must focus on achieving and exceeding this new goal.<\/p>\n

Bullet-proof connectivity will be the foundation of the Covid-19 economic recovery as the nation works to \u2018build back better\u2019. We\u2019ve seen in the past how rural areas have been left behind, from Superfast speeds to the rollout of 4G<\/a> and 5G<\/a>. We cannot afford to make the same mistakes again.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to build and connect homes and businesses to our new Hyperfast full-fibre networks, backed by millions of pounds of private investment from Aviva Investors.<\/p>\n

The pathway out of the Covid-19 crisis is thankfully becoming clearer with each passing day. We must therefore apply the same grit and determination to ensure no-one gets left behind. So, our message to residents and businesses blighted by poor broadband in rural areas of East Anglia \u2013 stay tuned as next-generation broadband is on its way to uplift your lives during the pandemic and beyond.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Malcolm Corbett, INCA’s CEO, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The altnets have proved themselves over the past few years as a highly capable network of organisations tackling both large-scale city projects and sparsely populated rural areas. Government and Ofcom<\/a> increasingly understand the value of the independent sector, and with more effective support the altnets can move even faster to help meet the scale of the challenge.<\/p>\n

We share the PAC’s concerns about rural areas being left behind, and that’s why we are working closely with BDUK and Ofcom to ensure that the Government’s revised “Outside In” strategy has the best chance of success.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has identified a “litany” of failures in the Government’s (DCMS) \u00a35bn Gigabit Broadband Programme (F20), which it warns will result in “business and homes in rural areas” being “locked out of gigabit broadband for years to come.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[406,471,419,56,60,38,476],"class_list":["post-25450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uk_isp_news","tag-5g","tag-bduk","tag-docsis3-1","tag-fttp","tag-mobile-broadband","tag-politics","tag-wifi"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"yoast_head":"\nPAC Warns UK Gov Failures Mean Rural Gigabit Broadband Delays - ISPreview UK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A new report from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has identified a "litany" of failures in the Government's (DCMS) \u00a35bn Gigabit Broadband Programme\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2021\/01\/pac-warns-uk-gov-failures-mean-rural-gigabit-broadband-delays.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PAC Warns UK Gov Failures Mean Rural Gigabit Broadband Delays - 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